A pipe emerges from dried and cracked earth that used to be the bottom of the Almaden Reservoir on January 28, 2014 in San Jose, California. Now in its third straight year of drought conditions, California is experiencing its driest year on record, dating back 119 years, and reservoirs throughout the state have low water levels. California Gov. Jerry Brown officially declared a drought emergency to speed up assistance to local governments, streamline water transfers and potentially ease environmental protection requirements for dam releases.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California just experienced its driest year on record and there's no relief in sight. Governor Jerry Brown is calling on citizens to conserve and children are no exception. Here are some tips to help parents and teachers explain the problem to kids and how to save those precious drops.

3. What can we do about the drought? Retired teacher Michael Thal gave tips on how parents can teach their kids to conserve water in a piece for Examiner.com. Among his suggestions: fix leaky faucets and take shorter showers - the average person uses seven gallons of water per minute, according to Thal. Your kids might also take inspiration from third grader Heero Bigby. The nine year old, who goes to school in Vacaville, Calif., recently became an unofficial spokesman for water conservation when he decided to give two presentations to his fellow students at school assemblies.

5. What about fires? The blog, The Kids Should See This, features a Smokey the Bear video from 1960 that explains the causes of forest fires and how to prevent them. The site is run by Rion Nakaya - she curates fascinating videos (with her two and five year olds' help) that adults and kids can enjoy together.

Know of other gems to get kids interested in the drought? What classroom lessons are you seeing in your schools? Let us know in the comments below.